Osteoarthritis causes angular deformity, which results from severe breakdown of joint cartilage of an inner knee joint, and results in pain, and when a patient stands or walks, progression of arthritis and pain become more severe because a body weight is concentrated to one side.
For performing a procedure for inward angular deformity, a method is used which performs an osteotomy on an inner proximal tibia in the vicinity of a knee, and then fixes the tibia by using a metallic plate.
The high tibial osteotomy is a method of performing an osteotomy on a proximal portion of the tibia so as to reduce pain by dispersing a load of body weight, which is concentrated to an interior of a knee joint, further outward.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, assuming that a line, which connects a center of a coxa and a center of an ankle, is an axis of a lower limb, the line means a weight-bearing line while walking, and in a normal situation, the line runs through a center of the knee.
Therefore, the high tibial osteotomy refers to a procedure that allows the line to run through the center of the knee. Therefore, after the procedure, comparatively normal articulation motions, such as squatting and running, are enabled.
As the invention associated with the high tibial osteotomy, there is Korean Patent No. 10-1253915 (Apr. 5, 2013) “Connector for High Tibia Osteotomy”.
Referring to FIG. 2, the connector for a high tibia osteotomy is characterized in that a through hole, through which a medical grade suture remaining after sewing a wound of a cartilage may pass, is formed in the form of a long hole.
However, because a main connecting body 10 of the disclosed connector for a high tibial osteotomy is formed in the form of a flat plate, there is a problem in that close contact force with an outer surface of the tibia deteriorates during a procedure of the high tibial osteotomy.
In addition, when fixing the main connecting body 10, screws 11 need to be coupled by using a separate tool to fix the main connecting body 10 or a practitioner needs to hold the main connecting body 10 to couple the screws 11, and as a result, there is difficulty in selecting a position of the main connecting body 10 and fixing the main connecting body 10.
Therefore, there is a problem in that a period of time required for the procedure is prolonged.